Ousted White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci has told The Huffington Post he offered to resign in the immediate aftermath of his explosive interview with The New Yorker.
The conversation with New Yorker journalist Ryan Lizza, in which Mr Scaramucci labelled then-chief of staff Reince Priebus "a f***ing paranoid schizophrenic" and said chief strategist Steve Bannon was "trying to suck his own c**k", came a day before Mr Priebus was fired.
The Huffington Post reports Mr Scaramucci offered his resignation before the weekend but was told it was not necessary.
A few days later, new White House chief of staff John Kelly called Mr Scaramucci into his office and asked for his resignation in "a very polite conversation".
Mr Scaramucci told The Huffington Post he was disappointed his rant to Lizza, which preceded the firings, was published.
"Most of what I said was humorous and joking," he said.
"Legally, it may have been on the record, but the spirit of it was off. And [Lizza] knew that."
Mr Scaramucci said the pair's families "have been friends for over 50 years" as their fathers knew each other from construction, and "we were building a personal relationship".
Lizza said they "are not and have never been old family friends", despite their fathers' relationship.
"But that would not be a reason to suppress an explosive on-the-record interview," Lizza said.
As for Mr Scaramucci, the former financier said he is "now going to go dark".
"Then I will re-emerge … as me," he said.
